The impact of winter storms that struck the US state of Texas could be significant on the world's supply of certain semiconductors, including high-end NOR flash and chips demanding 8-inch wafer fabrication, according to industry sources.
Chipmakers including Infineon, NXP and Samsung have temporarily suspended fab operations in Texas, where severe winter storms have caused power outages across the state.
Regardless of length, suspensions at fabs mean wafers being processed will have to be scrapped, the sources said. When production resumes, the need to readjust equipment and facilities will also hinder overall chip output, the sources continued.
The supply of high-end NOR flash chips, including those for automotive applications, is expected to bear the brunt of the fab suspensions, the sources indicated.
Infineon's 8-inch fab in Austin (formerly owned by Cypress) contributes about 5% to the world's NOR flash supply, said the sources, adding that the fab is capable of processing 10,000 wafers monthly for NOR flash chips mainly those for automotive and industrial applications.
The supply of NOR flash chips is already tight with the memory segment's ASPs set to rise another 10% in the second quarter, the sources said.
Samsung also has had to halt production at its 8-inch fab in Austin, where it makes chips using mature-node processes, the sources noted. The fab suspension will disrupt not only Samsung's memory controller chip production in-house but also its ability to fulfill customer orders for logic chips demanding 14nm and more mature process manufacturing, the sources said.
Reductions in Samsung's memory controller chip output may have an adverse impact on NAND flash pricing, the sources continued.
NXP has two 8-inch fabs in Texas, owning a 25-30% share of the global automotive MCU market. Suspensions at NXP's Texas fabs have raised concerns that automotive chip shortages may worsen, according to the sources.
Infineon also produces automotive MCU products at its Austin fab, the sources said. Fab suspensions in Texas may impact about 20% of the overall automotive MCUs produced worldwide, the sources said.
Article translated by Jessie Shen
